Happy Birthday, Junior Seau: January 19

Junior Seau would have been 46 years old today. The NFL great's life was tragically cut short on May 2, 2012, but we will never forget the memories this legend brought us over the years. Today, we pay tribute to Junior.

Tiaina Baul "Junior" Seau Jr was born January 19, 1969 in San Diego, CA, where he'd later become an NFL icon.

In high school, Seau was a linebacker and a great tight end. He also was a star basketball player. Seau also was a California all-academic team member with a 3.6 GPA.

Seau would chose the University of Southern California to play football. He would have to overcome adversity right away after he scored only a 690 on his SATs, 10 points below the USC requirement. He would sit out his freshman year as a result and have to shake off the stigma of being "a dumb jock." In the 1988 and 1989 seasons, Seau would compile 19 sacks on his way to a unanimous All-American selection in 1989.

Seau was the 5th overall selection in the 1990 NFL draft by the San Diego Chargers. He would immediately make an impact and make the Pro Bowl in his rookie season. That would be the first of 12 Pro Bowls for Seau. He also would be an 8-time first team All-Pro during his career. He was a beast on the field:

Seau would compile over 1,500 tackles and 56.5 sacks in his 20-year career (13 with the Chargers, 3 with the Miami Dolphins, and 4 with the New England Patriots). Seau would go to two Super Bowls (1994 and 2008), but fall short in both, including the heartbreaking defeat to the New York Giants when New England was 18-0.

Seau is eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2015 and is almost a sure-fire unanimous selection.

Happy birthday, Junior Seau. Here's to you.

Check out more famous birthday sports history in Throwback on ThePostGame.